#1. It’s not a technology issue but a content issue.As Revision 3’s Jim Lauderback demonstrated, the technology capability is here today for consumers to access any content and have it displayed on their TV screens. And while, for now, we see physical connected TV devices like AppleTV, Boxee Box, Roku, and GoogleTV“all of these set top boxes will eventually end up in the TV.”

As Sony’s Rob Wiesenthal said, “The vision is to have a 1 cord TV where the only cord is the power cord.”

So the issue comes down to the politics of the rights to the content itself. Actually, it simply comes down to money. As NBC’s Jeff Gaspin said, “For us it's about monetizing our content and getting a fair value for it. It's one thing to stream content online but once you move that content to the TV, then there's a risk of [revenue stream] cannibalization.”

CBS’s Zander Lurie feels similarly, “To the extent we see things as cannibalizing, we are less interested [in content partnerships]. We are trying to maximize the revenue potential for these assets.”

And Freewheel’s Doug Knopper summed it up, “It's going to be about the total monetization of content and there are going to be places where you cannot find content. Content owners are going to be very selective on where it goes.”

#2. People want to consume content on their terms.We want our content when and where we want it – plain and simple. Many speakers and panelists addressed the notion that it’s not necessarily about the size of the screen, it’s about the screen that’s most convenient at a given time.

One audience member joked that he’d watch Family Guy off his colleague’s back if it were the only “screen” available. Nielsen’s Cheryl Idell indicated that “Although the HD TV is the center of the living room, consumers will use the best available screen for the content at the appropriate time.”

And Sony’s Rob Wiesenthal brought up the notion of ownership vs. access. “A common account that follows you around so that you can start a movie on your TV and finish it on your laptop.” He spoke of a not-too-distant future where downloading files/content no longer exisits.

#3. We are seeing new forms of content emerge.Microsoft’s Paul Mitchell said it well, “We are starting to see new and different forms of content emerge. Before there were video games, there was no concept of video games as content.” CBS’s Zander Lurie recognizes the effect that Twitter and Facebook have had in helping drive interest in current content.

Boxee’s Avner Ronen takes it a step further, “I think social is going to be a big part of TV consumption even more so than search. Often times you don't know what you want to watch and it's about surfacing content that's relevant to you.”

Revision 3’s Jim Louderback has his eyes on the TV check-in apps like GetGlue as a means to socialize TV content. And Google’s Mario queiroz is very optimistic about the future of content, “This is an opportunity to create new content that isn't available today by bringing the web to TV as a platform.”

A note about “cord cutting.”The notion of “cord cutting” came up a lot as well. Most tended to believe that there’s very little evidence that true cord cutting exists (leaving cable & satellite providers to get content exclusively from “over-the-top” sources).

Many felt that over-the-top content was best when it’s additive to existing services and platforms. But I like they way Microsoft’s Paul Mitchell put it, “Cord cutting is really a replacement of what had been private networks as distribution to interconnected distribution mechanisms.” Netflix's Ted Sarandos cited that, "TV content has become half of all the viewing hours of Netflix streaming content. Our intention is to get into every device that is connected to the internet + TV."

But while just about every speaker and panelist said that ultimately they are taking the lead from their consumers’ content consumption preferences, what really ends up happening is what will generate the most revenue (my perspective).

In the end, Yahoo’s Ronald Jacoby gave the soundbite that set the tenor for the future, “We have a chance to shape where this industry goes.”

[We are becoming “source-agnostic.”]Each of these on-demand, video content aggregation & delivery apps/set-top boxes has their emerging pros & cons. But the one thing they all have in common is the fact that they are, essentially, “source-agnostic.” No longer do I have to know or necessarily care if the original program came from NBC, FOX, CBS or even YouTube.

[Align to the content not necessarily the delivery vehicle.]What this could mean for advertisers is the need to align more to the content itself in addition to (or, perhaps in the long term, in lieu of) the specific delivery vehicle (such as a network, a service, or a device). Since my on-demand content is now portable, I can watch Mad-Men live on AMC, through onDemand cable, my AppleTV, on my iPad, PC, or mobile phone. The only constant, regardless how or where I’m viewing the show, is the actual content.

[Will we have a surge of branded entertainment?]Advertising that aligns to the content and not the delivery vehicle could take many forms. Branded-bumpers/pre-roll could preceded the program/show. Or we may start to see even more product placement/branded-entertainment since there is absolutely no way to strip out advertising/marketing that is so intertwined into the actual content of the program itself. The advertising/marketing, therefore, follows the content around as it gets delivered in whatever way the viewer chooses to consume it.

[Being Source-Agnostic can lead to greater advertising receptivity.]In the end, there is still lots to figure out within the complex world of content programming and delivery. What I do know, though, is that the Emmys got me to download and start watching Modern Family (via Apple TV). I didn’t even know (until I looked it up) that Modern Family is broadcast on ABC. And since I’m watching the show commercial free, the brands that made a lasting impression on me were Apple (iPad) and Costco who were a non-intrusive and, actually, welcomed part of the branded entertainment experience.

August 30, 2010

I’ve been on a small business kick lately enamored by human, passionate, focused organizations driven to create great products. But as is the case in business: With innovation comes competitive threats. And when the competition emerges as Facebook, Google, or Apple, one has to ask, does the innovator stand a chance if they don’t sell out?

Ustream makes broadcasting live video easy and has given it a social flair. Like Foursquare, the company’s media partnerships has helped give them mainstream visibility. Just tonight, Ustream’s partnership with NBC gave Emmy TV viewers additional behind the scenes red carpet and back-stage footage online. But with YouTube (Google) continuing to experiment with live video broadcasting, how will Ustream maintain its leadership position in the face of the massive YouTube audience?

#1: Boxee

If you’re fascinated with Web/TV convergence, you can’t help but love Boxee which aggregates programmatic video content from various online/hard-drive sources and partners and serves it on-demand style through your TV. While the product can run directly off your computer hooked up to your TV, the company is trying to come out (despite a number of delays) with a set-top box (appropriately called the “boxee box”). With GoogleTV and Apple’s iTV being released this fall, will the delayed Boxee Box get over shadowed?

August 17, 2010

The only reason I don’t have an iPhone is because I’m a Verizon loyalist – ever since my first cell phone in 1998.

While attending the Mashable Summit last June, Motorola gave out smart phones running their motoblur software to all attendees. I was pretty impressed that they actually looked up each person’s carrier and matched the appropriate phone. I ended up with the Motorola Devour. It was a bit of serendipity since I was so unhappy with the phone I had (running windows mobile) so I was like, “Okay, whatever, I’ll try it.”

I wasn’t planning to blog about it since I’m not really into the whole “Let’s give products to bloggers so they feel compelled to write about them and we get earned media” thing. But, alas, I love the phone – and for one key reason: Convergence.

This blog was founded on the principles of media convergence and that’s exactly what motorblur does. I remember during my days at BBN in the mid 1990s talking about the concept of “unified messaging” and motorblur really brings this concept to life.

In a single “universal inbox” I have access all electronic messages in my life, converged:

My work email

2 personal email accounts

SMS messages

MMS messages

Facebook messages

Twitter direct messages

Motoblur makes it easy to scan through, in chronological order, those who are communicating with me (regardless of source). I feel like I can finally stay a bit more on top the barrage of email & messages that we all increasingly get.

The best part though is when my phone crashed last week as a result of an Android software upgrade. I had to wipe my phone out and reset it. Normally when this happens, one has to reconfigure all of their accounts which, truthfully, I was dreading doing.

I was surprised & delighted, to say the least, that simply entering my motoblur ID auto configured all of my accounts which it had saved when I first set them up. I didn’t have to do anything and I was back up and productive within seconds.

If there is any question as to why portable content and cross-channel media distribution is important, just ask Lorne Michaels (SNL Executive Producer). In an interview during the show, Lorne touted the fact that the massive amounts of views through content sharing of the digital shorts online has brought a whole new audience to the (TV) show. “People who hadn’t seen the show had seen [the web videos] and that then brings them to the show.”

And if cast member Andy Samberg and his two college buddies never took a risk and shot Lettuce, SNL’s first digital short would never have come to be. It wasn’t until their third one, Lazy Sunday, that “blew the roof off the place” and Andy Samberg was recognized on the street for the first time. NOT because of the TV show, but because of YouTube.

One SNL producer mentioned that the reason that many SNL sketches “go viral” is because their show, inherently, is built for [the web] “little 3 minute clips which is about as much as you want to watch online – and we’ve got a lot of them!”

But as we all know, content is key and just because you make a video and upload it to YouTube doesn’t mean people want to watch (and share) it. It takes a certain kind of magic that is hard to reproduce for something to be considered “viral.” Just like bad products won’t sell no matter how much you try to market them, bad content won’t be consumed either.

And when Justin Timberlake sang alongside Andy Samberg in “%&$# in a box” (a hat tip to early 90s cheesy R&B), Jimmy Fallon recounted, “people were crying” (with laughter) and the video spread like wildfire online.

And that is why SNL’s digital shorts are described as "a gateway drug into SNL". They’ve become “a way in” to the TV show for a growing number of people whose first exposure to Saturday Night Live is online, not broadcast TV.

A couple of times I’ve heard individuals say that “social media should stand on its own” (meaning sans paid media) – I don’t, personally, subscribe to this philosophy. While I do believe that online communities should experience elements of “self fueling”, many noted marketing campaigns that were deemed “social media” had heavy mass/paid media behind them (i.e. Vitamin Water).

And it should be no surprise, by now, the effect this had on searches (below) for “Hot Tub Time Machine” and mentions within the social Web (above) as a result of the Jersey Shore TV spot.

Searches on "Hot Tub Time Machine" soared the night of the Jersey Shore season finale. (Source: Google Insights for Search).

There will come a time when we stop using the label “social media campaigns” or “digital campaigns” and simply use “marketing campaigns.” Media is much more powerful when it is strategically used is concert with one another. Social media doesn’t stand alone.

December 30, 2009

One of the things that I subtly pointed out on the update was the jump in close to 100,000 views of the brand’s Pizza Turnaround YouTube video as a result of the campaign’s paid media kicking in.

Above are some stats from YouTube that clearly show the harmony that takes place when social media is coupled with paid/mass media and underscores the benefit of cross-channel, integrated media design. It puts a smile on my face going into the new year and new decade ;-) Great job to Domino's and their Agency(s). Happy 2010 everyone!

Hat Tip to @scheuguy for sending out a link to the Domino's video on Monday.

Brands do not have traditional business objectives and digital business objectives – they simply have business objectives which require a cross-channel marketing strategy -- not a traditional marketing strategy and then a digital marketing strategy.

These mediums have always been labled "traditional" yet they've naturally evolved/are evolving because of "digital" technology.

The one thing that is certain is that advances in technology will continue to change how people consume and interact with media (and brands). So whether or not a given and specific agency has the capabilities to deliver an effective marketing strategy (given the ever-changing landscape) is what’s up for debate -- there will always be "new media."

I once worked for an agency specifically focused on “Social Media Marketing” and whose leaders strongly believed that “traditional” AND “digital” agencies would never “get it”. So does this mean we should fragment and silo marketing even more with a 3rd kind of lead/specialized agency?

No. At its most basic level, an agency is simply a collection of people—each with a set of talents, skills, experiences, and knowledge.

[It’s not agencies who “don’t get it”, it’s people who don’t.]

Shame on any agency leaders who hold on to a snapshot of what marketing was or think that “new media” is the only answer. The fittest agencies are the ones that inherently cultivate a mix of insanely capable people with strong leaders who foster a “with it” culture, period. As individuals within this industry, we must be nothing short of passionate life-long students who continue to evolve and shape the places at which we work.

I’m not suggesting that there isn’t a role for specialty or boutique agencies. But I strongly challenge the notion that agencies should be bucketed as “traditional” media, “digital” media, and “social” media. We are doing a disservice to our clients if we do not approach media as a holistic consumer experience.